I could not find a place to post this question but what's the harm of eating some sugar? I am not talking about oodles of it, but one teaspoon is 4 carbs and I could afford that. I am not talking every day but just one day.

I know a carb is not a carb, but the fake sugars don't taste the same and recently having splenda I noticed that it kinda burned my tongue and throat the rest of the night with a slight chemical taste (had splenda tons of times before, never noticed this). It also made me retain water and made me sad when I stepped on the scale so if I am going to be sad, why not have a teaspoon or so of the real stuff?

Have you tried coconut palm sugar, if you're willing to "spend" the carbs? It has a stronger (to me) sugar taste, slightly brown sugar-ish, and you can get organic, unprocessed brands pretty inexpensively. If you're only using a teaspoon a day, a 1lb bag will last you a long time

From a nursing student's perspective, I want to try and see if I can shed some light on this.

Sugar is sucrose. Chemically speaking, it's pretty close to glucose (the "sugar" your body's cells actually utilize). Unlike proteins and fats, carbohydrates actually start to break down in your mouth. They are also absorbed into the body higher up in the digestive tract than proteins or fats. Thus, the end result - the glucose - enters the bloodstream much faster than it does from the ingestion of other types of nutrients.

In the "normal" healthy human body, a small amount of glucose entering the bloodstream is a pretty routine event. The pancreas may or may not throw out a little insulin in anticipation of additional glucose hitting the bloodstream as the rest of the meal is digested. It's quite ho-hum.

However, in those of us who are insulin-resistant, pre-diabetic or diabetic, or have other metabolic disorders, or those who routinely consume large amounts of sucrose, the pancreas is sort of on the edge of panic all the time. It "knows" that insulin doesn't effectively bring down glucose like it's supposed to, so at the least hint of incoming glucose it overreacts, throwing out more insulin than is needed. This insulin, if you've only eaten a small amount of sugar, will drop your blood sugar to unsafe levels (hypoglycemia). This actually kicks in a state very similar to the "fight or flight" response, causing the production of adrenaline and the resultant symptoms of hypoglycemia: shaking, nervousness, low energy, and (significantly) strong carbohydrate cravings.

In people who routinely eat sugary snacks or drink sugared drinks, this becomes a vicious cycle of high blood sugar -> insulin production -> low blood sugar -> cravings -> carb ingestion -> high blood sugar that, according to some professionals, is a leading cause of overeating and obesity.

Now, if you just eat that teaspoon or so of sugar and stop, obviously you aren't going to get into that cycle. But it could make your day a little unpleasant for a while, or trigger strong carb cravings that will cause you to deviate from your eating plan and sabotage your weight loss.

Also, our taste buds and perception of taste are adaptive - the more sweet things we eat, the less sensitive our taste buds become to sweetness, and the less sweets we eat, the more sensitive our taste buds become to sweetness, thus needing less sweetening for things to taste sweet to us.

Personally, I use good old saccharine, the pink stuff. Those studies way back when that lead to the "cancer-causing" warning were funded by the sugar industry and are seriously flawed. It would be difficult for a human being to voluntarily consume enough saccharine to duplicate those results, and in fact sugar will cause serious health problems at much lower quantities ingested. Saccharine, unlike aspartame and splenda, has no other complications associated with it, and you will get used to the "aftertaste."

I hope that helps, and I hope I avoided medical jargon well enough to make it understandable.

Saccharine and even stevia tastes like ear wax to me!
I am not talking about incorporating sugar into my diet. I just want to have some maybe tomorrow or so. I have been nearly a month without it, and I notice that my taste buds have been reset and I can detect sugar in the mildest form now. Even dental floss tastes like (nasty) candy to me now.

Not pre or full blown diabetic.

I just don't want to mess up the keto train I am so fond of. Even if I get knocked out I want to be able to go back in fast. I didn't know what other consequences there may be.

Coconut sugar sounds intriguing. I may have to look that up. If I do decide to do sugar, at best it will be once a month, maybe. I enjoy seeing the scale go down too much to do it any other way.

I could not find a place to post this question but what's the harm of eating some sugar? I am not talking about oodles of it, but one teaspoon is 4 carbs and I could afford that. I am not talking every day but just one day.

I know a carb is not a carb, but the fake sugars don't taste the same and recently having splenda I noticed that it kinda burned my tongue and throat the rest of the night with a slight chemical taste (had splenda tons of times before, never noticed this). It also made me retain water and made me sad when I stepped on the scale so if I am going to be sad, why not have a teaspoon or so of the real stuff?

Sugar is one of those things we all react differently to. I have no issues at all with sugar and can eat if fine without it triggering cravings etc. I actually prefer salty over sweet and the only time I ever gravitate towards sugary stuff is the day before tom (and one candy bar or a cookie is usually enough to calm the craving down). You really just need to figure out what works for you and your body

__________________ ~Sara~ I've gone from size 14 jeans, down to a size 4 with JUDDD/5:2IF! Now in maintenance with 16:8IF and the occasional potato hack. My 3 year maintenance anniversary is in April

October 2015 Blood Work Results
-Total Cholesterol 167: HDL 69 LDL 97
-Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 2.4no triglycerides number given this time, but blood work this past spring put them at a 49
-Glucose (non-fasting) 87

From a nursing student's perspective, I want to try and see if I can shed some light on this.

Sugar is sucrose. Chemically speaking, it's pretty close to glucose (the "sugar" your body's cells actually utilize). Unlike proteins and fats, carbohydrates actually start to break down in your mouth. They are also absorbed into the body higher up in the digestive tract than proteins or fats. Thus, the end result - the glucose - enters the bloodstream much faster than it does from the ingestion of other types of nutrients.

In the "normal" healthy human body, a small amount of glucose entering the bloodstream is a pretty routine event. The pancreas may or may not throw out a little insulin in anticipation of additional glucose hitting the bloodstream as the rest of the meal is digested. It's quite ho-hum.

However, in those of us who are insulin-resistant, pre-diabetic or diabetic, or have other metabolic disorders, or those who routinely consume large amounts of sucrose, the pancreas is sort of on the edge of panic all the time. It "knows" that insulin doesn't effectively bring down glucose like it's supposed to, so at the least hint of incoming glucose it overreacts, throwing out more insulin than is needed. This insulin, if you've only eaten a small amount of sugar, will drop your blood sugar to unsafe levels (hypoglycemia). This actually kicks in a state very similar to the "fight or flight" response, causing the production of adrenaline and the resultant symptoms of hypoglycemia: shaking, nervousness, low energy, and (significantly) strong carbohydrate cravings.

In people who routinely eat sugary snacks or drink sugared drinks, this becomes a vicious cycle of high blood sugar -> insulin production -> low blood sugar -> cravings -> carb ingestion -> high blood sugar that, according to some professionals, is a leading cause of overeating and obesity.

Now, if you just eat that teaspoon or so of sugar and stop, obviously you aren't going to get into that cycle. But it could make your day a little unpleasant for a while, or trigger strong carb cravings that will cause you to deviate from your eating plan and sabotage your weight loss.

Also, our taste buds and perception of taste are adaptive - the more sweet things we eat, the less sensitive our taste buds become to sweetness, and the less sweets we eat, the more sensitive our taste buds become to sweetness, thus needing less sweetening for things to taste sweet to us.

Personally, I use good old saccharine, the pink stuff. Those studies way back when that lead to the "cancer-causing" warning were funded by the sugar industry and are seriously flawed. It would be difficult for a human being to voluntarily consume enough saccharine to duplicate those results, and in fact sugar will cause serious health problems at much lower quantities ingested. Saccharine, unlike aspartame and splenda, has no other complications associated with it, and you will get used to the "aftertaste."

I hope that helps, and I hope I avoided medical jargon well enough to make it understandable.

Thank you for that. I notice if I eat a higher carb meal I go into a carb coma. Doesn't happen all the time but since I am not used to eating a lot of them it does happen. And yes, if I do eat a sugar thing, a few hours later I want to eat something again. It doesn't always happen, but it does sometimes.

I will get through this part, I know. If I eat something now and sugar is the second to last ingredient in a list of 15 ingredients, I can tell it's there so I know I am becoming more sensitive

I don't like that sugar is processed in such a way that damages the environment, so I used to buy raw evaporated cane juice instead. I haven't bought white sugar in years.

I know that doesn't go directly to ones' health, but the health of the planet matters to me, and I personally found that the raw evaporated cane juice, which looks like brown sugar, basically, has a completely similar flavor and works 100% the same to cook with, and it's maybe 50 cents more at the market.

I'm relieved to find this post! I like to have a couple of Tic Tacs or a few (no more than 6) dark chocolate chips after dinner... or sometimes I need a Tums or 2. But I was a little worried about the sugar. I thought that might be why I'm sitting on a stubborn plateau, but reading other posts about stalling, I've discovered I am not eating nearly enough protein. So now I can enjoy my little treats without guilt! Thanks!

I’ve used all kinds of different sweeteners from saccharine to Splenda to coconut sugar xylitolerythritolmonk fruit all of it!! I prefer Splenda xylitol is my fave, and monk fruit is pretty good too but can be expensive. I’m super sensitive to sugar period. It sucks but I’ve got to just deal with it. The Atkins bars don’t seem to bother me or cause cravings. If I have a tiny bit of sugar then I go overboard so I cannot have real sugar. After reading this post I’m probably gonna switch to sweet n low. Not my favorite but I do still want to do some research on it too.

From a nursing student's perspective, I want to try and see if I can shed some light on this.

Sugar is sucrose. Chemically speaking, it's pretty close to glucose (the "sugar" your body's cells actually utilize). Unlike proteins and fats, carbohydrates actually start to break down in your mouth. They are also absorbed into the body higher up in the digestive tract than proteins or fats. Thus, the end result - the glucose - enters the bloodstream much faster than it does from the ingestion of other types of nutrients.

In the "normal" healthy human body, a small amount of glucose entering the bloodstream is a pretty routine event. The pancreas may or may not throw out a little insulin in anticipation of additional glucose hitting the bloodstream as the rest of the meal is digested. It's quite ho-hum.

However, in those of us who are insulin-resistant, pre-diabetic or diabetic, or have other metabolic disorders, or those who routinely consume large amounts of sucrose, the pancreas is sort of on the edge of panic all the time. It "knows" that insulin doesn't effectively bring down glucose like it's supposed to, so at the least hint of incoming glucose it overreacts, throwing out more insulin than is needed. This insulin, if you've only eaten a small amount of sugar, will drop your blood sugar to unsafe levels (hypoglycemia). This actually kicks in a state very similar to the "fight or flight" response, causing the production of adrenaline and the resultant symptoms of hypoglycemia: shaking, nervousness, low energy, and (significantly) strong carbohydrate cravings.

In people who routinely eat sugary snacks or drink sugared drinks, this becomes a vicious cycle of high blood sugar -> insulin production -> low blood sugar -> cravings -> carb ingestion -> high blood sugar that, according to some professionals, is a leading cause of overeating and obesity.

Now, if you just eat that teaspoon or so of sugar and stop, obviously you aren't going to get into that cycle. But it could make your day a little unpleasant for a while, or trigger strong carb cravings that will cause you to deviate from your eating plan and sabotage your weight loss.

Also, our taste buds and perception of taste are adaptive - the more sweet things we eat, the less sensitive our taste buds become to sweetness, and the less sweets we eat, the more sensitive our taste buds become to sweetness, thus needing less sweetening for things to taste sweet to us.

Personally, I use good old saccharine, the pink stuff. Those studies way back when that lead to the "cancer-causing" warning were funded by the sugar industry and are seriously flawed. It would be difficult for a human being to voluntarily consume enough saccharine to duplicate those results, and in fact sugar will cause serious health problems at much lower quantities ingested. Saccharine, unlike aspartame and splenda, has no other complications associated with it, and you will get used to the "aftertaste."

I hope that helps, and I hope I avoided medical jargon well enough to make it understandable.

Have any of you tried Kiva Organic Stevia Powder? Cooking, in coffee, etc...? I've been using organic honey in my Boyd's coffee and it's just not doing it for me. I used sugar free French vanilla until I recently educated myself on the horrors of artificial sweeteners.